Customer Reviews

Beethoven's Last Night

5 star:		(136)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

To my great relief, TSO returns to form (and better) with Beethoven's Last Night. Their 1998 release, The Christmas Attic, was enjoyable but a let-down: it seemed like a rehash of their first album instead of a new idea.

But Beethoven's Last Night is something else altogether. Across 22 tracks (73 minutes of music), TSO unfolds the harrowing story of Beethoven's last night on earth, including remembrances of his love and life, deals with the devil, and the saving grace of Fate. Like most of O'Neil's writing for TSO and Savatage, it's a tear-jerker and bound to leave you with a smile on your face.

The songwriting is volcanic, bombastic but widely varied; the pounding heavy metal that introduces Requiem (The Fifth) is interrupted by a ghostly children's choir, creating a goosebump-inducing shock. I got chills up my spine at least five times during the course of the album. The musical asides - little bits of the Moonlight Sonata and countless others by Beethoven and Mozart, polyharmonic choral sections, a children's choir (only very briefly, don't worry) -- make for a rich, multilayered repeat listen.

The vocal performances are stunning in their perfection. Beethoven sings like an operatic baritone, Theresa veers between rock siren and delicate soprano, Mephistopheles sneers and rasps, Twist (Fate's deformed son) mocks and leers, and in the end Fate sings us to sleep with a simple, beautiful lullaby.

Paul O'Neil's songwriting can be uneven -- you wince a bit when he rhymes "dismembered/remembered" and "minute/in it," and intros a song with an 80's-power-ballad drum fill -- but he hits much more often than he misses, and the music and vocals are good enough to gloss over the rough patches.

Who is the market for this album? A heavy metal fan with a weakness for musical theater. A classical music fan who likes Andrew Lloyd Weber and can stand an electric guitar or two. Someone who isn't put off by serious emotion and high drama. And someone with a good attention span -- the album demands to be listened to all the way through reading along in the (20+ page)liner notes, at least once. Think of it as the soundtrack to the best Broadway musical/rock opera that never was. If you like the genre, you'll love this.

If you don't end up crying by the end of this album, you have no heart! This CD is simply amazing! I love rock operas and concept albums, whether they be done by Savatage (who are pretty much the same guys that are in Trans-Siberian Orchestra but with one (and sometimes two) singers) Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Queensryche, Iced Earth, or the many other bands who have caught on to the idea. This has got to be The Rock Opera of all rock operas! I don't really feel like taking the time to tell you all what it's about, so I'll just say that it's about Beethoven's Last Night! The band intigrates a lot of Beethoven's music into the album wonderfully, though most of the music is original. Paul O'Neill is an extremely gifted lyricist and his lyrics shine on this album. This album is extremely moving and intelligent (which most music today lacks). There are very slow, emotional songs and some more upbeat ones, but this is a pretty steady album and really needs to be listened to from start to finish without interuptions. Highlights are: Mephistopheles, What Is Eternal, The Moment, The Dreams of Candlelight, Requiem (the Fifth), I'll Keep Your Secrets (my personal favorite on the album), Who Is This Child, and A Final Dream. This album is loaded with emotion, intelligence, and extreme talent. If you're into rock operas, progressive rock, or just thought-provoking music in general, I highly recommend this!

This has to be the best of my 350 CDs. This has almost a Broadway-esque sound to it. Yet the rock is not lost in the ballads and instrumentals. "What Is Eternal" "Vienna" and the other 20 tracks are among the best on the album. DO NOT PASS THIS ALBUM UP, YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPPOINTED. Jody Ashworth & Patti Russo (former Meat-Loaf vocalist) deserve 110% for their superior divine performances as Beethoven & Theresa on this album. Also, Jon Oliva portrays the devil (how fitting) and Guy Lemonnier plays a Young Beethoven. This album cobines the classical, unloosable genius of Beethoven & Mozart and the rough rock edge of the TSO. I take my hat off and lay in mud for Paul O'Neill & Robert Kinkell, who wrote all of the songs for this album. The music is unbelievable, the lyrics are powerful and emotional and the story is realistic enough to possibly be true. The TSO is definately the most gifted band ever to walk the face of the earth. sory Metallica, Beatles, and Led Zeppelin, but you've met your match. This album will remain a classic, I guarantee it.

This is a rock opera concept album. They use electric and acoustic guitars, violins, keyboards, and other classical instruments. Most of the songs are rock versions of Beethoven's work, or variations of them. All in all the music is well played, and recorded good. The actors voices are well sung with emotion. The story of this album is that Beethoven is feeling it is his time to pass on, right after he has completed his 10th Symphony. At that time the Devil comes and tells Beethoven he is to spend death in Hell for eternity, but he can change that if he gives all of his music to the Devil. Beethoven is then guided throughout his life, by Fate, to change whatever he wants so that he will not be damned to hell, and not have to give over his music. He sees both good and bad times, and how that has made him who he is. He sees that he should change nothing, because he would never have had the inspiration to create such great music. This is the message that throughout our lives, we are made of both the bad and the good, and that we would never be who we are now, unless we had the bad. It is up to us to choose if we will use the bad as an inspiration to bring joy and wondrous creations as Beethoven chose to do. At the end Beethoven and his Fate play a trick on the Devil, and he is able to pass on to bliss. The story is a fun one, and sends a positive message. Guitar work isn't too technical, but its interesting to hear Beethoven in rock. If your a fan of progressive rock, concept albums, or Beethoven, I would suggest you check this out, I'm sure you'd enjoy it. 4 stars.

TSO follows up their two musically impressive and critically acclaimed Christmas albums in a culminating effort that brings us this completely original rock opera which tells the magnificent story of "what might have happened" on Beethoven's last night on Earth. Whereas the two Christmas albums had a background story that was tied together with the music on the album, this release is structured much more like a traditional rock opera or Broadway musical, with each different vocalist on the album taking on the role of a certain character. The vocal arrangements are stellar, with numerous hooks and tremendous variation, along with sufficient deviation of rhyming pattern as one might find in a typical musical. Musically, Beethoven's Last Night is perhaps "toned-down" a bit, having slightly less of a hard metal presence, and features only a handful of instrumental tracks on the 22 cut album instead of the 50/50 mix found on their earlier works. My biggest complaint on a very short list of them was that, as a rock opera, I wished that the album would have included a duet or two to allow greater, more emotional character interaction. I also felt some deviation away from the piano driven songs would have been nice - perhaps somehow working a folk guitar piece in there as they'd done with the previous albums. Nevertheless, as a growing fan of Broadway, and being one who has a tremendous appreciation for vocal performances, this was right up my alley and has become one of my favorite albums since my first listen.

For those of you who do not know this, TSO is actually a band called Savatage that has been out since the early 80's. This is indeed an awesome album, their first album "Christmas Eve and Other Stories" was rated in the top 5 of all time for christmas albums.

If you like this style, I strongly urge you to check out these albums by Savatage, Dead Winter Dead (a concept about the war in Sarejevo), Streets (a rock opera), The Wake of Magellan (this album helped out a man to reach his family), Gutter Ballet. All albums I give a 5 star rating to. They have many more, but those are in the vain of thier project Tran-Siberian Orcestra.

Let me remind you that TSO, is a side project by Savatage. You can purchase their CD's at this site.

I had not been aware of the abilities of the Trans-siberian orchestra. I didn't own any of their other albums but had heard some of the christmas songs they had done. I was dazzled. Not only is it exactly my kind of rock/classical music but it's presence sends shivers down your spine. When spotting Beethoven's last night on the shelf, I had not even known of its existence yet I still purchased it without thinking. I had absolutely no idea of the magnitude of this album. The music is incredible. The arrangement of many of the songs is great as well as the recurring.. Ode to Joy, Moonlight Sonata, and the 5th and 9th.. as well the flight of the bumblebee in last allusion blew my head off. The story line as well is fabulous and really keeps you interested. The production of this album is bar-none better than anything I've ever heard. Producer Paul o'Neill is an absolute genius. He and this album has inspired me to take on the idea of re-vamping old classical tunes into this kind of rock music. I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO PURCHASE THIS ALBUM! ITS A NO-BRAINER.. You definitely wont be disappointed!

I recently saw TSO in concern in Rochester NY near Christmas and was floored with the production. I had seen the lit-up house to their Wizards in Winter song on the "Last Christmas Eve" album. So I was only to happy to explore more. I bought that album right away and played it constantly. Loved it.
Not having the fill of their music, and thinking it was time to move on from a Christmas theme (It was February)I ventured into this album and fell in love with this one as well.

If you like theatrical type music the like of Meatloaf, but with more musical oomph, you will love their stuff. There is a story and magnificent voices. The voice of "Beethoven" on this album is fantastic. Wow.

Songs 6, 12 and 15 rank as my favorites.
I hope to buy more of their stuff.

The creator of TSO, I understand was the creator of "Jesus Christ Superstar" of 70s fame, an album I was addicted to (and I am not religious at all). No wonder it is so great.

If you like Meat Loaf, you will really like this album as well. In fact Patti Russo who joined Meat on his Bat 2 tour and sang on his "Welcome To The Neighborhood" album sings her heart out on this disc. The sound is what you get if you take a little Andrew Lloyd Webber ("Evita", "Cats", "Jesus Christ Superstar"), Jim Steinman (Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler, Celine Dion etc) and just a dash on mid 70's Alice Cooper and you have Trans-Siberian Orchestra. In fact, the album does sound very much like the Webber/Steinman written "Whistle Down The Wind". The plot of "Beethoven's Last Night" is a bit strained, but the music is fantastic. Standout tracks include "The Moment", "Vienna", "Requiem (The Fifth)", "After The Fall", "Mephistopheles' Return" and "Misery". A pretty cool album for the adventurous mind.

I would have to call Beethoven's Last Night yet anotherTrans-Siberian Orchestra masterpiece. Throughout the album, two typesof work are evident - reworked classical music and original music.

The reworked classical music is familiar works of Beethoven with a rock touch. The classics are changed in a number of ways: replacing some of the Mid-range parts (such as Viola and Cello) with electrical guitars and (possibly) electrical-violins, and Low-Range parts (such as the Bass Violin) with electric bass guitars. The melody and beat is also changed, of course, with a rock beat. A piano and some choir-vocals are used as balance. Listen to some of the samples to get a good idea of how this sounds.

The original music, on the other hand, uses soft electrical rock and solo-vocals. The vocals tell the story of (big surprise) Beethoven's Last Night: on a late spring night in Vienna, with the greatest lightning storm in a long time, Beethoven finished his greatest work, the Tenth Symphony. Slumped over his piano, the spirit Fate appears to inform him that this is his last night on earth. At midnight, the devil appears to take his soul and Beethoven begs for anything but eternal damnation. The devil offers a deal: destroy all his music from man's memory or face Hell. He is given an hour to ponder, and a good deal of the album is Beethoven dealing with memories and why he was damned. The devil returns and, sorry my friends, but the ending of the story is up to you to hear! As far as the sound, the vocals sound almost like American opera and musicals, accompanied by a rock/classical blend of music. Well done.

Caveat emptor: if you liked the Christmas Eve but disliked the Attic, you will probably not like all of Beethoven's Last Night, especially the original work. You probably will like the classical music though. All in all, a great album! END